Crystal Creek Primitive Campground
1Heads uppark alert
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 16 of the next 16 nights read 17:03 UTC
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 2All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
This tent-only campground is located in the northwest corner of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, 19 miles west of Redding, California, and three and a half hours north of Sacramento. Crystal Creek flows alongside each campsite. The campground stays relatively cool due to the creek and to the shade given by a canopy of fir, maple and pine. Three nearby trails lead to lovely waterfalls. The cool, clear waters of Whiskeytown Lake provide endless water activities. The picturesque mountain setting and extensive forested backcountry offer ample opportunities for hiking and biking. Keep reading
Recreation
During the summer heat, swimming, kayaking, sailing, paddle boarding and water skiing are popular on the 3,200 acre lake. Year round, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, gold panning, fishing and picnicking attract visitors. Hunting is allowed in the appropriate season.
Facilities
Crystal Creek is a tent-on-the-ground only campground. Each campsite is equipped with a picnic table, a large bear-resistant storage locker, a metal fire pit with a swing-arm barbecue grill and a lamp pole. The campground has two campsites both of which share one vault toilet. Drinking water and electricity are not available. Due to a steep unpaved entrance road, towing vehicles is prohibited in this campground. The following are prohibited: all trailers, fifth wheels, pop-up campers, cab-over campers and motorhomes. Sleeping in vehicles is not allowed. No overflow parking available.
Natural Features
The heavy forest canopy and burbling year-round creek make Crystal Creek Primitive Campground an ideal location for a peaceful retreat. Whiskeytown National Recreation Area is located where the Klamath Mountains, Cascade and Coast Mountain Ranges, and the Sacramento Valley meet, creating a wide variety of wildlife and landscapes. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (530) 246-1225.
Nearby Attractions
The Tower House Historic District is located within the recreation area less than five miles from Crystal Creek Primitive Campground. Learn about the California Gold Rush history of the area by strolling among the historic buildings, water ditches, and a former gold mine, or by panning for gold or attending an interpretive program at the site. Oak Bottom is located eight miles from the campground and features beaches, lakeside picnicking, and a full-service marina with boat rentals.
What the agency tells you
Download your proof of payment for your campsite from recreation.gov onto your phone or other device. You must be able to show this to a park ranger if requested.
Entrance Pass Required - Whiskeytown is a National Park Service site and requires a vehicle entrance fee. You can purchase an entrance pass at the visitor center, or online by using your smart phone, tablet, or computer by going to the website. www.Recreation.Gov. If you already have a valid Interagency Annual, Senior, Access, Military, or Whiskeytown Annual pass, please display this pass in a hangtag or place it on the dashboard of your vehicle. Annual passes from Crater Lake National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park and Lava Beds National Monument are also valid here at Whiskeytown.
Check-in time is 1:00 p.m. and check-out time is 12 p.m. (noon).
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Maximum occupancy is 6 people and 2 vehicles.
Tent camping only.
Black bears frequent the area: all food, beverage containers, toiletries, cooking and eating utensils must be stored inside a bear-resistant locker or out of sight in your vehicle unless they are in immediate use.
Protect our natural resources. Gather only dead and down wood for firewood. Do not put nails in trees or damage or remove vegetation. Campfires must be attended at all times and completely extinguished (using water and dirt) when going to bed or leaving the campsite.
Generators are not allowed.
Please be advised that because the Carr Fire of 2018 burned extensively through the park, post-fire hazards such as falling trees and branches remain. Stay alert while camping in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.
Click here for more information about Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.
Camping is limited to an aggregate of 14 days between April 1 and October 31 (inclusive) and no more than 30 days per person per calendar year. No period of stay of 30 days may be succeeded by any period of stay with less than a 7-day break. The 14 day between April 1 and October 31 is necessary to provide more equitable access to campsites. The maximum 30 window between November 1 and March 30 is necessary to prevent individuals from residing within Whiskeytown
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 2 · 2 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - seasonal
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 664th darkest of 1,201 in CA
- Bortle 3
2 of 4 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 17:03 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 17:03 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 sites · the site map
All 2 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 2 of the 2 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
DRY CREEK GROUP CAMPGROUND (Whiskeytown NRA)Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area · 4.9 mi
Sheep Camp Primitive CampgroundWhiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area · 5.0 mi
Brandy Creek RVWhiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area · 5.3 mi
Brandy Creek Primitive CampgroundWhiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area · 5.4 miPeltier Bridge Primitive CampgroundWhiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area · 7.4 mi
Horse Camp Primitive CampgroundWhiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area · 8.6 miFrom Redding, CA, drive 19 miles west on Highway 299. Turn left on Crystal Creek Road and follow it for 3.5 miles to the campground. The campground will be on the left-hand side of the road down an unpaved driveway.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for French Gulch, CA
Typical weather
Typical October night 49°F, day 76°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 36°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Crystal Creek Primitive Campground is in California’s 1st congressional district. Whoever holds it votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. See how its representative votes on public lands →
Our roster still carries Doug LaMalfa for this district and the current federal record doesn’t list them as sitting, so we’re not naming a representative here until the two agree.